The article evaluates the influence of pressure of 10 distinct types of stakeholders on the adoption of environmental strategies, with the special focus on the proactive environmental strategy (PES). The moderation effect of the company size on this relationship is investigated in depth. The existence of the relationship between stakeholder pressure and environmental strategies has been explored by numerous studies. The study adds significantly to this ongoing discussion as the moderation effect of the company size was explored scarcely so far in the literature. The results from the multinomial logistic regression models confirmed almost unanimously the effect of stakeholder pressure and the presence of the moderation. Positive, but nonlinear, direct and moderated effect of pressures of regulators, competitors, clients, NGOs, media, shareholders and employees on PES was discovered. In case of suppliers, consumers and top management, the pressure–PES relation was more complex. Also, large companies seem to be more resilient to pressures than the smaller ones when adopting PES.
In this paper, we seek to understand the impact of overall stakeholder pressure (SP) on corporate environmental competitiveness (EC). We have also investigated the pressures derived from various groups of primary and secondary stakeholders on environmental competitiveness. Importantly, the moderation effect of the ISO 14001 adoption on the relationship between SP and EC has been explored. Although, the effect of stakeholder pressure on firms' environmental performance has been studied in the literature, the impact of stakeholder pressure on firms' environmental competitiveness is far less explored. The study also adds significantly to the ongoing discussion as the moderation effect of the ISO 14001 adoption on the relation between stakeholder pressure and environmental competitiveness has been scarcely explored in the literature so far. The results from the cascade of linear regression models have confirmed a positive and significant effect of (overall, primary, secondary) stakeholder pressure on environmental competitiveness. The regression models have also confirmed the presence of the moderation effect of the ISO 14001 adoption on environmental competitiveness.
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